There’s been some talk around for a while about turning algae into biodiesel (remember Oilgae.com?).
The latest story comes from the Green Options blog:
Researchers at Utah State University say that farming algae, with reported oil yields of 10,000 gallons per acre, could become an economically feasible biodiesel feedstock by the end of the decade.
This is the Holy Grail of biodiesel: an oil source that could make a serious dent in our fossil fuel consumption. Our most productive feedstock today, the oil palm, doesn’t even come close with yields of 635 gallons/acre, and is followed distantly by the U.S. standard, soy, at 48 gallons of oil/acre.
And officials point out that algae can be grown just about anywhere… in extremely hot weather or even salty sea water.
Utah State researchers are producing their algae in a grid of indoor bioreactors. The light is captured by parabolic dishes on the roof and fed inside using fiber-optic cables. They’re stringing together several thousand to make an algae farm. And they received $6 million in a grant from the Utah Science and Technology Research Initiative,. The first commercial plant in Utah is in the works, and researchers say algae-biodiesel could become economically feasible by 2009.
Updating 
Dr. Walter Copan, Executive Vice President and Chief Technology Officer of Clean Diesel, says his company has developed a range of retrofit emissions control technologies, called Purifier. This new technology will help meet the requirements of new European LOw Emissions Zones (LEZs). One of these zones is about to take effect in London, England.
Fortunately, the longest presentation at the Ethanol Summit was one of the most interesting. Will Steger narrated a slide show of his various expeditions across frozen ice lands in Antarctica, the North Pole and the Greenland ice cap. He spoke of temperatures 30 degrees below freezing with 30 mile an hour winds. But, amidst all that freezing cold Will said he witnessed evidence that suggests the reality of global warming. Will said significant climate changes are causing large remnants of ice from the last ice age to break up and begin to melt. He said one ice shelf took him 21 days to cross and in 2002 the entire shelf disintegrated in just a matter of four weeks, and another ice shelf was completely gone a night after he crossed it. Will said these are real affects of global warming – a global warming he says the human population is contributing to and altering. For Will, the diminishing summer sea ice suggests the earth is experiencing what he calls “unnatural climate changes.” 
The “Ethanol Summit” included an impressive list of speakers and both local and national press arrived to cover it. The Ethanol Information and Promotional Council, IndyCar Series, Indianopolis Motor Speedway and Rahal Letterman Racing sponsored the event. EPIC officials said the summit was meant to commemorate what the company calls “monumental use” of 100 percent fuel-grade ethanol in the IndyCar® Series as well as ethanol’s first Indy 500 win.
Today’s Ethanol Summit is over and Laura McNamara is working up her coverage for you. She’ll have pictures and audio interviews posted soon.
Winning a two year lease on a Flex-Fuel Chevy Silverado would be pretty cool and apparently a lot of people thought so. 
Lobbyists for ConocoPhillips, Tyson, and the Soap and Detergent Association have jumped into the fight over whether oil companies should be able to use the credit. The IRS ruled last month that they should be able to. That prompted Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D-Texas) to introduce a bill to repeal the ruling and narrow the tax break’s scope to what Congress had originally intended. 
Biodiesel giant Imperium Renewables is looking to get $345 million in investments in an initial public offering. You might remember Imperium from our previous posts